Readers ask about numbers book, black doll & Massey prints

Fridays at Auction Finds is readers’ questions day. I try to guide readers to resources for them to determine the value of the items that they own. I’m not able to appraise their treasures, but I can do some preliminary research to get them started. So, these are market values based on prices I find on the web, not appraisal for insurance purposes that I suggest for items that have been determined to be of great value.

This week’s questions are about the “H.P. Dream Book” of numbers, a black Cherisse doll by Olmec and Cal Massey prints.

The "H.P. Dream Book" of numbers by Prof. Uriah Konje has been very popular.

Question:

Hey, can’t anyone (at) least take pictures of (the) pages and post so we can save it digital. Just an idea.

Answer:

The reader was referring to “The H.P. Dream Book” of numbers that I wrote about three years ago. The book was published in 1927 by Prof. Uriah Konje, an alias for Herbert Gladstone Parris, who published several numbers books in White Plains, NY.

Several readers have asked to buy my book or inquired about where they could find one. Mine isn’t for sale, but I directed them to websites that sell dream books for around $5 or less. A friend mentioned that you can find them in some corner stores. I suspect that it depends on where you live.

My book has 92 fragile pages that would only be damaged even more by scanning and digitizing them. Numbers books are so inexpensive that it would be easier to just buy a copy.

Besides, the dream book – like many others – is under copyright and can’t be reprinted without permission.

This 1989 Cherisse doll by Olmec was selling on eBay.

Question:

I just came into a doll collection of about 150 dolls after my aunt died, all still in purchased boxes. 1 says Dolls by Olmec 18″ Cherisse Toddler Doll, soft filled body, vinyl arms and legs, sleeping eyes, rooted hair. I can’t find information on it anywhere.

Answer:

I could find little myself about Olmec’s Cherisse doll. I found several dolls from 1989 and 1991 for sale on the web, indicating to me that they were probably first made around that time. Olmecwas an African American doll company formed in 1985 by Yla Eason. It is no longer in operation.

Clockwise: Paul Cuffee, W.C. Handy, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Harriet Tubman. These prints were sold by the American Negro Commemorative Society.

Question:

I have the whole collection of prints (Hell Fighters, Henson and Paul Cuffee, George Washington Carver, Jean Baptiste Pointe Du Sable, Paul Laurence Dunbar and Benjamin Banneker, Daniel Hale Williams, M.D., William C. Handy, Frederick Douglass, Matthew Alexander Henson, Harriet Tubman, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. All are signed by Paul Massey. I have had these prints for forty years, and I would like to know what they are worth.

Answer:

The reader was referring to prints by artist Cal (not Paul) Massey. I bought 12 of them at auction two years ago, and some had official U.S. postage stamps of the person in the drawing. The prints were first sold as a set in 1972, and four years later during the Bicentennial, they were sold with stamps.

The prints along with silver medals were commissioned by the American Negro Commemorative Society, founded in 1968 by George A. Beach of Philadelphia to honor the accomplishments of famous African Americans.

Unfortunately, I have no quick answer to your question, but I can direct you to some resources for research. I recently wrote a blog post about how to determine the value of three Massey prints that were found in a storage locker. The owner listed the colored prints on eBay for $75 but they did not sell.

To find an answer, you’ll have to do some research:

Try Googling to see if you can find them sold on a retail site.

Try eBay to see if you can find them sold.

Try a gallery near you that sells Cal Massey’s prints or works by African Americans to see if someone there can give you a ball-park estimate.

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Our houses are filled with memorabilia and artifacts that are part of our family's history and legacy. But far too often we don't know what we have or assume it's worth very little or nothing.

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About Sherry Howard

I started going to auctions to fuel my love for African American art – but at a bargain. I love the old masters: Lois Mailou Jones, Jacob Lawrence, Hughie Lee-Smith. I wanted to find their works and discover other veteran artists whose works may have been hiding in an attic or basement, and forgotten.

I’m a journalist by profession: I was a newspaper reporter and editor. Now, I’m taking what I did as a journalist – peeling back the covers of people’s lives and writing about what I found – and applying it to auctions. And I’m loving it.

Visit me often to see what I come up with. I would also like to share stories and photos of what you find and your collections. Click my Contact page.

What is my stuff worth?

Here are some tips for things you can do on your own to help determine what your items are worth:

First, try the web. Search for items similar to yours.
Go to the library or browse at a bookstore. Look through price and collector's guides pertaining to your item.
Get a free or reduced-price appraisal. Find local auction houses in your town and check their websites to see if they offer these quick appraisals. You can find auction houses near you via auctionzip.com.Pay for a real appraisal. This could be your last step or your first step (if you have an item that you already know is valuable).

You can get more detailed information on each of these tips in my blog post on the subject.